The Babysitter
by The Crownless Queen
Summary: In the world where Voldemort never was, Bill Weasley is Harry Potter's babysitter.


Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Bahamas - Character: Bill Weasley, the Writing Club: Days of the Month - Love Your Red Hair Day - Write about Bill Weasley.

This is a no Voldemort AU because I was in the mood for fluff and I just wanted the Potters happy.

 _Word count:_ 1792

* * *

 **The Babysitter**

'You can do this, Bill. This isn't anywhere near as stressful as your NEWTs were, you just need to make a bit of cash until you can start working.'

Even as he told himself this, Bill hovered on the Potter's porch, fist hovering just inches away from the door, poised to knock.

He was about to spin back around and pace for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes—he liked to always arrive early, which in theory was great but in practice always built up his anxiety—when the door swung open, revealing a giggling boy that barely reached to his hips.

Bill blinked, the dark-skinned boy blinked back. His harried mother, red hair in disarray, joined them quickly and gathered the squealing boy in her arms. She smiled up at Bill gratefully. "You must be Bill," she said, looking him up and down quickly. "I'm Lily, and this little monster here is Harry." She tickled his sides playfully as he tried to squirm away. "Thanks for catching him for me, he slipped right through my fingers."

Something about Harry's mischievous expression reminded Bill of the twins, and he smiled wryly. "It's no problem, really—though I didn't exactly do it on purpose."

Lily smiled back. "Even so, I really appreciate it—but oh, do come in. James should be here soon, but we've left you everything you should need. Bedtime's at nine and dinner's in the oven—he says he's not hungry yet but just wait half an hour and he'll be willing to eat his own arm."

" _Mum!_ "

Lily laughed, arching an impressively doubtful eyebrow at her son. "What, like I'm wrong? Don't worry, you get it from your father."

"Dad says I get it from you, though," Harry replied in a pout that was frankly adorable.

"Well, your father is a dirty, dirty liar who lies, okay?" She looked back at Bill, cheeks flushed pink. "Sorry about this—kids, you know?"

"Oh, I know." Bill snorted. "Trust me, I have six little siblings, I know all about it."

Just then, a loud crack characteristic of Apparition resonated outside, startling them and allowing Harry to wiggle free from his mother's arms.

"That'll be James," she said in a huff. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

James Potter was much taller than his wife, and he shared his son's darker skin color and unruly hair. He was also beaming at said son as Harry babbled about his day so quickly he couldn't have gotten out more than one word in a dozen.

He startled upon seeing Bill and let go of his son's shoulders, extending a hand toward Bill as he introduced himself. Bill shook it.

"Did Lily show you around? Did she tell you everything you'll need?" he asked.

"She was getting around to that, I think," Billy answered with a smile.

"Actually, since James is here, he can show you around—I need to freshen up if I want to look presentable for dinner."

"You look perfect," James said, and he crossed over to Lily's side, bending down to kiss her lips.

"Charmer," Lily huffed with good humor. "You always say that."

Feeling out of place, Bill averted his eyes. He found himself staring at Harry instead, who was shooting his parents a disgusted look Bill knew well—it was the look every child had when they saw their parents kissing or being embarrassingly in love, and they shared a commiserating look over it.

The tour of the house, once the couple separated, was done quickly. James showed him where Harry's bedroom was and where the amenities upstairs were. Downstairs was basically just the kitchen and a living-room, though both were quite spacious.

James reiterated Lily's instructions about bedtime and added a few more rules ("No sweets before bed, don't let him beg he'll make you get him anything," or "No flying after the sun goes down."). They all sounded like stuff his parents had told him a hundred times when he watched his siblings, so Bill just nodded along.

Being over seventeen, Bill could use magic to deal with any problems that arose anyway—not that he expected any, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.

Finally, after one last goodbye to their son and a parting, "Be good," the Potters left.

The house immediately seemed bigger somehow but Bill shrugged it off and refocused on Harry.

"So… Are you hungry?"

Harry just stared at him disinterestedly. "No."

"Well then, what do you want to do?"

Harry eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but he must have seen something good in Bill's expression because he relaxed minutely. "I have a Potion kit, but Mum says I'm not allowed to use it on my own." He paused there, expectant.

Bill sighed in relief. That sounded easy enough—he couldn't believe he had been scared of this, not after all the experience he had with kids because of his siblings. If Charlie, or Merlin forbid, the twins heard about this, Bill would never hear the end of it.

"So, you like Potions then?" he asked as Harry set up his kit.

Harry grimaced. "Muh," he said, shrugging. "It's okay—I can't wait to get my wand so I can do _real_ magic though, even if Dad and Uncle Sirius say Potions can be great for pranking."

Bill had a sudden and terrifying vision of Harry meeting the twins that made him shudder. "Sounds like a good reason to like Potions. So, what are you working on then?"

The suspicious look returned, but eventually, Harry relented. "It's a Potion to change hair color. Uncle Sirius told me he and Dad used to make it all the time at school."

Scratch Harry and the twins not meeting—it's James and this Sirius Bill can't have them meet. Neither Hogwarts nor the Burrow would survive—Fred and George are already blowing stuff up on a semi-regular basis, they don't need more help with that.

He watched Harry brew for a while. The Potion didn't really look that complicated, which made him realize this was probably a kiddies' version of it, but Bill could still see why Harry wasn't allowed to do it on his own. Between the fire and the sharp implements—which Bill used himself even though he had been _so glad_ to be done with Potions after his NEWTs—there were quite a few dangers.

He was glad when Harry decreed they were done and he put everything away with a wave of his wand, almost laughing when Harry looked at him with awe and envy.

He should have listened more carefully to James and Lily's warnings about their son's mischievous tendencies—because the dinner might have been made by Mrs. Potter, but the additions to it? Those were purely Harry's.

Which was how Bill finished his night with bright green hair instead of his normal red.

That was okay though—he had grown up with Fred and George. He knew how to get back to a trickster.

By the end of the night, Bill wasn't the only one rocking the green hair. Thankfully, he knew the color was harmless and wouldn't last; because he didn't think the Potters would really appreciate him otherwise.

On the plus side though, Harry did agree to go to bed easily enough, which allowed Bill to settle down in the Potters' sofa to wait with a good book.

The Potters stumbled him around half past midnight, grinning and laughing in hushed tones. It made Bill smile into his book as he rose up to greet them.

"Everything went…" Lily's sentence came to a shocked end when she spotted Bill's hair, her husband looking torn between being amused or apologetic at her side. Lily just looked mad. "Oh, tell me he didn't—James, you told me you had made him stop!"

James smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his hair nervously. "Er, technically I said I was _going to_? As in, I haven't done it yet?"

" _James…_ "

The man flinched. "I'll tell him to stop tomorrow?"

"You'd better," Lily replied in a huff before turning toward Bill. "I'm so sorry about this," she said, wincing apologetically as she gestured at Bill's hair. "I swear, we've taught him better than this, I don't understand how he…"

Bill surprised himself by laughing. "It's fine, really. Like I said earlier, I have kid siblings, this is hardly the worst that's happened to me. Also, and I'm sorry if it was presumptuous of me, but I kind of dyed his hair back?"

After a brief moment of confusion, James burst into laughter as his wife asked, "You dyed Harry's hair green too?"

Bill smiled sheepishly. "Yes?"

Lily huffed out a laugh, glaring at her husband half-heartedly before focusing back on Bill. "Well, at least we know that you can handle him—though next time, maybe simply try not to let him get away with it? The last thing we need is another prank war in this house." She glared at James pointedly as she said this, and the man smiled back at her with an innocent smile that fooled absolutely no one.

"Next time?" Bill asked, frowning. "You mean you want me to babysit for you again?"

Lily blinked. "Well, yes? Unless you don't want to, of course," she said. "But _Harry_ seems to like you—he only pranks people he likes—and _you_ seem to be able to handle him, so I don't see why not."

James laughed at Bill's flabbergasted expression. He handed him a handful of coins."Here, keep the change—for the trouble our son's caused you tonight," he added with a wink.

Bill counted quickly and his heart skipped a beat when he found more than the previously agreed amount. He frowned, thrusting his hand back toward James. "This is too much, I can't accept this."

James rolled his eyes at him. "Well, I'm not taking it back. Like I said, you can consider this a bonus for the hair thing," he said, lips twitching up a little. "We know you didn't sign up for that."

Bill turned toward Lily, but he could see that she wasn't about to budge on this any more than her husband was. He sighed and pocketed the money. "Thank you," he said.

The Potters smiled at him warmly. "It was our pleasure, really," Lily said.

Bill smiled back. "Harry's a good kid. It really was mine."

They looked pleasantly surprised to hear him say it.

"Well then, sounds like you'll fit right in, Bill Weasley," James joked, clasping Bill's shoulder and squeezing once.

They parted quickly after that. Bill's last thought before he Apparated back home was that he really wouldn't mind seeing the Potter again or babysitting their son.

Maybe, he also thought, he could introduce Harry and Ron. He had a feeling they could be good friends.


End file.
